


Severed Ties

by Raptor



Category: Alias
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2008-02-03
Updated: 2008-02-03
Packaged: 2017-10-08 14:32:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 499
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/76630
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Raptor/pseuds/Raptor
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Arvin Sloane considers the price of betrayal.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Severed Ties

Arvin sits at his desk, a glass of water in hand, and waits. Careful planning had not fully prepared him for this; he finds the anticipation unnerving.

His thoughts wander back to that time in '85, trapped in a safe house, the oppressive heat, the desperate need for information. Jack, as always, had done what needed to be done. He remembers a fierceness reflected in Jack's eyes that day, a heightened level of ruthlessness borne of a life lived in deception and hardened by the aftermath of betrayal. The informant, strapped to a chair, projected a short lived air of bravado and then a momentary shock of disbelief, when after each unanswered question, Jack had taken a finger in hand and methodically snipped it through the bone. The initial screams of agony, and later on, the quiet pleas for mercy fell upon deaf ears. They both knew he would have sold them out again in an instant if given the opportunity.

Raising his glass he takes a sip. It should arrive at any moment, he thinks, his hand unconsciously wandering to the scar encircling the base of his index finger.

He remembers himself shackled to a chair, the tables now turned. His mind blurred by hours of relentless torture, he had first thought Jack's unexpected arrival an illusion, merely the wishful thinking of an overtaxed psyche. The spell had been instantly broken by insistent questions. The failsafe -- had it been activated? Yes, yes it had. It was immediately and brutally clear what needed to be done. He remembers giving the command, and after a brief moment of hesitation, Jack's silent but determined compliance. Searing pain tore through him and he had nearly lost consciousness as the digit was cleanly separated from his hand. He feels a dull sensation within the joint even now, the phantom pain a constant reminder of the violation that had been inflicted on all of them that day, a sensation he suspects will never completely leave him.

The messenger dismissed, he carefully unwraps the outer packaging and removes a nondescript box. He holds it in his hands idly for a moment, resisting the urge to set it down.

Visions haunt him of the anguished look in Emily's eyes as the realization began to sink in when he had confessed a carefully tailored version of his sins to her. He suspects she had always known on some level that his life, their life together, was not all that it seemed, but simply chose to ignore it. Because of this above all else, he has never for a moment doubted her devotion to him; theirs is a relationship built on trust, blind trust.

He opens the small leather case. There's no need to feign surprise at what he finds; the shock he feels is genuine. In the end she had agreed to do what needed to be done, her love and loyalty proven once more. A sacrifice has been granted he knows could never fully be repaid.


End file.
